Gura argues that the portion of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act that allows American citizens other than military personnel and their family to vote by absentee ballot while living overseas is against public policy and is unconstitutional. The Act, Gura alleges, allows technical citizens to vote even though their allegiance may be to their adopted countries and not the best interest of the United States. Gura argues that the Act violates the Equal Protection Clause and states rights while not being required to protect the right to equal protection or the right to travel of the expatriates.

Fortier, John C. and Ornstein, Norman J. "The Absentee Ballot and the Secret Ballot: Challenges for Election Reform." University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform 36 (2003) 483-516.

Fortier and Ornstein caution that the trend towards increased absentee voting risk the protection of the secret ballot. They argue that this is a manifestation of a larger tension in current election reform movements: those that focus on improving the accessibility and functionality of the traditional polling place versus those that see the future of election reform away from the polling place. Fortier and Ornstein assert that absentee ballots do not have the protections of a secret ballot and today's absentee ballots go beyond the intent of the original advocates of the absentee ballot.

McCauley recounts the problems with absentee ballot fraud in the 1997 Miami election and the remedies ordered by 2 courts. According to McCauley, the appellate court correctly invalidated all absentee ballots in the Miami election. McCauley proposes a new test that focuses on which party perpetuated the fraud for courts to use in fashioning the proper remedy in absentee ballot fraud cases.

O'Sullivan, Joan L. "Voting and Nursing Home Residents: A Survey of Practices and Policies." Journal of Health Care Law and Policy 4 (2001) 325-53.

Based upon her survey of two Maryland nursing home staff and residents, O'Sullivan argues that either a formal program that encouraging and assisting nursing home residents to vote by absentee ballot or designating nursing homes as polling places increases voter participation by nursing home residents and, perhaps more importantly, increases their connectedness to their communities. O'Sullivan details the formal programs available in Maryland and Chicago to observe and encourage absentee balloting in nursing homes and prevent fraud and then surveys the law regarding competency to vote.

Stone asserts that while Internet voting would be an improvement on the existing voting procedure, many state laws need to be changed to allow for voting by Internet. Internet voting may be more disability friendly and may be a more efficient way to manufacture multi-lingual ballots. She urges states to keep Internet ballots free from hyperlinks to candidate information for the same reasons that most physical polling places are free from such information.

Election Law @ Moritz
Michael E. Moritz College of Law
The Ohio State University
55 West 12th Avenue
Columbus, OH 43210-1391

Please note: Election Law @ Moritz is nonpartisan and does not endorse, support, or oppose any candidate, campaign, or party. Opinions expressed by individuals associated with Election Law @ Moritz, either on this web site or in connection with conferences or other activities undertaken by the program, represent solely the views of the individuals offering the opinions and not the program itself. Election Law @ Moritz institutionally does not represent any clients or participate in any litigation, but individuals affiliated with the program may from time to time in their own personal capacity engage in pro bono representation of clients other than partisan candidates or organizations.

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